MEASURING BELONGINGNESS - THE SOCIAL CONNECTEDNESS AND THE SOCIAL ASSURANCE SCALES

The study developed 2 measures of belongingness based on H. kohut's (1 984) self psychology theory. The Social Connectedness Scale and the So cial Assurance Scale were constructed with a split-sample procedure on 626 college students. Internal reliability estimates for the 2 scales were .91 and .82, respectively. Test-retest correlations revealed goo d test stability over a 2-week period (rs = .96 and .84, respectively) . Cross-validation for the 2 measures was achieved with confirmatory f actor analysis with an incremental fit index greater than .90. Scale f unctions are described and results are discussed in light of current r esearch and theory.